Piercing earring having rigid retaining means



July 12, 1966 A. c, MICALLEF 3,260,068

PIERCING EARRING HAVING RIGID RETAINING MEANS Filed March 24, 1964 INVENTOR ARTHUR C. MICALLEF BY ATTQRNZ United States Patent 3,260,068 PIERCING EARRING HAVING RIGID RETAINING MEANS Arthur C. Micallef, 158 Pine St., Cranston, RI. Filed Mar. 24, 1964, Ser. No. 354,281 1 Claim. ((31- 63-12) My present invention relates to the jewelry art, and more particularly to a novel construction of an earring.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide a piercing earring having a novel form of securing means.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a piercing earring which eliminates the use of complicated locking devices.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a piercing earring which is simple in construction and easy and economical to manufacture and assemble.

With the above and other objects and advantageous features in view, my invention consists of a novel arrangement of parts more fully disclosed in the detailed description following, in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, and more particularly defined in the appended claim.

In the drawings,

FIG. 1 is an enlarged perspective view of a piercing earring embodying the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side elevation thereof.

FIG. 3 is a rear view thereof.

Piercing type earrings are provided with wire or rod which passes through an opening in the ear lobe. Means must be provided to prevent accidental withdrawal. This is especially true when the earring is made of precious metal or is provided with precious stones. In such cases, Wire shanks are bent into a loop around the ear lobe and the free ends are locked in place. The heavier straight rods are provided with safety devices which are slidable over the ends and held in position by spring friction.

Most of these devices are troublesome to use because they require fumbling manipulation by the user behind the ear, usually with only one hand. The present invention is therefore designed to eliminate this defect by providing a locking action that does not require manipulation or extra locking members. Applicants device is thus easy and economical to manufacture and assemble and also easy to use.

Referring more in detail to the drawings illustrating my invention, the piercing earring may be of any desired form, such as the stone mounting and stone 11 illustrated,

or .any other form including added pendants. Locking action must be provided to hold the flat back portion 12 against the earlobe 13 (in dotted lines) as shown in FIG. 2. Accordingly, a rigid straight shank 14 extends rear- 3,260,068 Patented July 12, 1966 wardly at right angles to the plane of the back 12. lhe portion 14 is sufliciently long to just pass through a conventional ear lobe. This is approximately 7 Locking action is provided .by the extension of the shank 14 as illustrated. Extending integrally from the end of the shank '14, and at right angles thereto, is a means for releasably retaining the earring on a pierced ear lobe. This means is a rigid locking portion 15 having a plurality of bends 16 in the form of undulations such as a hairpin shank might have. The portion '15 extends at right angles and downwardly from the end of the shank 14. It is important that the portion 15 be pulled flat against the back of the ear lobe 13 as shown in FIG. 2. Therefore, in providing the bends 16, the first bend from the shank 14 is inwardly at 17, forming an angle of less than In use, the wearer merely guides the member 15 through the ear lobe 13 and then turns it through a 90 angle to allow the shank '14 to pass through. It will be found that the right angle construction together with the bends form an effective safety lock to hold the earring in place. The construction is obviously simple and economical to manufacture and assemble.

Other advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent to a person skilled in the art.

I claim:

A piercing earring comprising an ornamental portion, a straight rigid shank extending rearwardly at right angles to said ornamental portion, and means integral with the outer end of said shank for releasably retaining said earring on a pierced ear lobe, said shank being adapted to extend through an ear lobe, the length of said shank being approximately equal to the thickness of the pierced ear lobe at the pierced area, said means including an integral rigid portion extending downwardly at right angles from the end of said shank, said integral portion being provided with undulations, the undulation nearest said shank extending toward the ear lobe to provide an angle of less than ninety degrees with said shank whereby said rigid shank and integral means are adapted to pull said ornamental portion against the lobe.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 180,887 10/1876- Jeanne 63l3 398,787 2/1889 Luthy 6312 1,516,294 11/1924- Hubeny et al 24-261.6 1,661,165 3/ 1928 Cameron 24-2615 FOREIGN PATENTS 809,579 2/ 1959 Great Britain.

RICHARD C. PINKHAM, Primary Examiner.

F. BARRY SHAY, Examiner. 

